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Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Blog Ring of Power Interview with Robert D. MacNeil

I met Robert via Twitter. What a great way to meet people! He was gracious enough to do a guest post on my blog, which BTW is the number one post on my blog. So when we formed the Blog Ring of Power I just knew I had to get Robert to agree to an interview. Once again he has agreed.

So here is a little about who Robert David MacNeil is and a bit about his work, which is listed as Number 1 Science Fiction story on Amazon.

So Robert, have a seat here and and lets begin a five day run over five different blogs about you and your work.

First, let me thank you for the
opportunity to do this interview. I love
the "Blog Ring of Power" concept.

1. How long have you
been writing?

I began writing Iona Portal three
years ago. I've written non-fiction for 20 years under a different pen-name,
but fiction was new territory. I'm
fortunate to have a number of friends who are authors and editors, and most
importantly, some honest critics. They
believed in the project from the start, and walked me through several major
re-writes as I learned the process of writing fiction.

2. When and why did
you begin writing?

I've always loved books, and am
an avid reader. I think most readers
have a secret desire to write.

In my "day job" I'm the
dean of a school. I'm also a teacher and
traveling speaker. One of my favorite
topics is the supernatural. I've been to
32 nations teaching, doing research and writing about angels, demons and
supernatural manifestations. Iona Portal
is a direct outgrowth of that.

Three years ago, a friend
suggested I write a science-fiction book based on the kind of supernatural
encounters I describe in some of my non-fiction books. That intrigued me. Most people think of demons and angels as
beings in a "religious" context, but quantum physics opens another
possibility. The parallel universes many
cutting-edge physicists now envision are eerily similar to the religious concept of
a "spiritual realm." What if
the age-old battle between good and evil is actually warfare between
trans-dimensional beings who use our world as a battleground?

Some of the events in Iona Portal
are based on actual occurrences.

3. Tell us about your
early works—what was the first thing you ever wrote?

When I was in grad school, I
wrote a science fiction story and sent it in to one of the popular science
fiction magazines of the day. It was
classic space opera, and I loved it, but the process of writing it was
tedious. This was before the days of personal
computers and I was typing the story on an IBM Selectric, which meant retyping
an entire page each time I made a change.

Looking back, I’m sure the story
was dreadful. I was surprised, however,
that the inevitable rejection letter came in the form of a personal letter from
the magazine's editor. (Editors still did things like that back then). He was very encouraging and made some helpful
suggestions. I probably should have
tried again, but by that time I was working on my thesis.

Finishing grad school, I put the
idea of writing behind me for a number of years, and focused on career.

4. What books have
most influenced your life?

As
far as writing style, it would have to be Clive Cussler. A lot of science fiction today tends to get
bogged down in nuts and bolts detail.
Some people love that, but I don't.
Cussler's style is clean, direct, and fast moving. I once heard Cussler say that he sees himself
more of an entertainer than author.
That's my goal also. I don't
claim to be creating great literature, but I do want to keep my readers on the
edge of their seats, and leave them a little breathless at the end.

5. What genre do you
write?

Iona Portal is more of a suspense
thriller than anything else, but it happens to be set in a universe of
alternate worlds and parallel dimensions.
That earned it the Science Fiction label.

6. What is your
favorite theme/genre to write about?

I love the Sci-fi thriller genre,
and still have some space-opera on the back burner. Maybe when I finish the Synaxis Chronicles
series….

Robert David MacNeil is an
author, wine-lover, and investigator of things supernatural. Over the last twenty years he's traveled to
32 nations researching, writing, and teaching on angels, demons, and
supernatural encounters. His travels
have taken him from the steppes of Mongolia to the jungles of Thailand, and
from the Eskimo villages of Northwest Alaska to le fin del mundo, the "end
of the world," at the tip of South America.

Long a fan of science fiction and
suspense thrillers, Robert also has a love for history–especially ancient
Greece, Rome and medieval Europe. He's
particularly fascinated with Patrick, Columba, and the ancient Celts of Ireland
and Scotland. The Celtic monks had a special
relationship with the angels. They also
loved beer and invented whiskey. The
Irish really did save civilization!

Robert and his wife, Linda, live
near Dallas, Texas. He has authored five
non-fiction books under a different pen-name.
Iona Portal is his first novel.

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Speculitive Fiction Member Since 2011

About Me

I've lived from New York to California, Washington to Texas, and several places in between. Love the Rocky Mountains, where I spent over 18 years, and I enjoy the heartland. I currently reside in Mississippi with my wife and two of my five children and two cats. A dog would be most welcome, but my wife is not overly fond of critters, she and the cats tolerate one another.
I write Speculative Fiction, mainly Fantasy, and Science Fiction. My current project is an epic fantasy that has a mind of its own.
I also enjoys photography, camping, reading, good movies, and of course telling fun stories.